A tale of 3 cities - Day 6 in London

My last day in London was marked by lots of walking on both sides of the Thames with no particular destinations in mind. Officially though, I covered the Globe Theatre Exhibition and went on a tour of the Rose Theatre, went for a little while to the Imperial War Museum (very informative and awesome exhibits - wish I had spent more than the hour I did there) and walked along Oxford Street. Some photos I took that day:

Poignant exhibit in the Imperial War Museum

Street Performer on the South Bank of the Thames


Oxford Street (the date is Oct 1 only because my camera is on India time - the photo was taken on Sep 30)

I love London - especially its public architecture, its many interesting places-to-visit and its efficient public transport (atleast in the central parts of the city where I mostly remained). Yet, for some undescribable reason, I remember Tokyo more fondly. The strange announcements on the Tokyo Metro - the charming "Kayabacho, Kayabacho desu" being my most fond memory. The running monologues by people on the sales counters in shops even though they knew we couldn't understand them and the citizens who would go out of their way to help us (Londoners are quite helpful too) also contribute to these loving memories, I guess. London is a culturally more vibrant place, has a much richer and better preserved history, a wealth of English-language bookshops (Tokyo has many awesome bookshops too, but alas, most books are in Japanese) and a wider variety of restaurants. Yet, the mind likes what it likes :) Bombay is objectively much inferior in almost every respect to either of these cities, but in my head, there is no city in the world which compares favourably to my hometown. And the preference for Tokyo does not have much to do with the fact that I was there for 8 weeks whereas I have been in London for only 6 days - have been in Ahmedabad for over a year, but have little attachment to that place (love the corner called WIMWI though). Wonder how I will feel about the three other great capitals I expect to see in the next three months - Paris, Rome and Berlin.

Day 5: Blunders and old friends

An MBA student who "cracked" the CAT and an aspiring market trader - that's how I could describe myself. But that would be omitting something significant - to complete the description would require the phrase 'completely lacking in common sense'. Have been looking around London for a nice place to exchange my dollars for pounds. Finally found one today which offered what seemed to be a great rate. Immediately I rushed and exchanged 400 dollars. When he gave me the British money though, I realised that I had been my very inevitably foolish self - hadn't read about the service charge of 10-11% that they charge. A £20 loss :( What should have been equivalent to about £205 was reduced to £186 - just because I had not bothered to ask how much would I get before agreeing to the trade.

Anyway, almost at the end of my London visit. Just one more day to go. Have seen most places that I wanted to - went to the Natural History Museum and Hyde Park today. Also have been making up for the missed opportunities of photographing London on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...though the views from St. Paul's and the London Eye are gone forever :(

Did not see much in the Natural History Museum. Am most interested in dinosaurs and mammals, and restricted myself to the exhibits of them. Some of the dinosaur fossils and models were really impressive (Added on Oct 13).

Walking through Hyde Park was very nostalgia-inducing and I was rather lost in thoughts of friends in WIMWI and elsewhere. This happened on two-three occassions during the UK trip, generally whenever there was nohing specific to focus on and my mind was free to wander (Added on Oct 13).

Meet Paldy today. Was really good meeting an old friend...

On Sunday, it's off for a week of exploring the rest of England and Scotland. Can't decide my exact itinerary though.

Day 4: A day is not enough, not even a lifetime perhaps

Planned to visit the British Museum and the Natural History Museum Today. Unfortunately completely underestimated the vastness of the first. Reached the British Museum at 10:30 after a short walk from Holborn Underground (doing what I did in Tokyo here - getting down at Underground stations a little further away from my destinations and walking through the city streets to get a feel for the place) . Was there till 2, before taking a break to have lunch at my first vegetarian restaurant outside India ("Food for Thought" - in the vicinity of the museum).


Had covered the period till the early Roman Republic by then and had to make a choice between skipping the rest of the exhibits and heading to the Natural History Museum or skipping the Natural History Museum and going back to the British Museum. Made the second choice and was back at the museum from 4 to 7:30. Still could not finish all the exhibits! And of course, it is not as if I saw the exhibits which I did see in any great detail. The Museum's collection is amazing! One of them is the famous Rosetta Stone, shown below. And the hundreds of books on sale at the bookshops - I suddenly realised that this world is such an amazing place! So much to explore and learn about, and so little time! How I did not buy any more histories, I cannot explain.


Two more days left in London. Have seen most of what I wanted to see - two more museums left, another visit to the Globe and a trip to the National Opera. Should be manageable, though I wish I could have spent a day or two more here - but that would mean missing out on the likes of Oxford, the Lake District and Scotland, which would be a shame...

Finally took some photos today, after having missed out on two days due to my camera's batteries running out. Mostly of the museum displays though - hope to take more snaps of London tomorrow.

Day 3: Loving the city

London has grown upon me in the three days I have been here. Walked along the northern bank of the Thames today and went to the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and the National Gallery today. The mixture of old stone buildings and modern glass-faced structures which adorns this city is a treat to the eye. The view from St. Paul's is exquisite. The photo below, of St. Paul's Dome, was taken later - did not have a camera on me that day.


The availability of all manner of foods here makes it a welcome change from Tokyo (more a problem from the language point-of-view rather than availability, to be fair) . Had lunch in "The Japanese Canteen" today. Have resolved to eat as little as possible from the Mcdonalds and Subways of the world - though I did eat from a Mac yesterday afternoon.

London, Day 2: Dreams fulfilled

Today was a long day - left my hostel at 9:30 in the morning and was out till 11 at night! After a wasted day yesterday, today I spent my time more usefully and covered many sites. Went to the Buckingham Palace in the morning and then walked through Westminster Abbey. I was primarily looking forward to seeing Newton's tomb in the Abbey, but unfortunately I could not find it. The Abbey itself is a bit cluttered with tombs and memorials of hundreds of people, but the atmosphere and the architecture is still quite wonderful.

Took a ride on the London Eye in the afternoon. Today was a sunnier day than yesterday, and the views from the top of the Eye were magnificent. Walked along the South Bank of the Thames, and saw The Comedy of Errors in the Globe Theatre to round off the day (Sorry, will have to wrap up now...the cybercafe I am sitting in will close now).

Photo: Just before the play began in The Globe.

Day 1 in London: Getting a feel

Landed in London today morning after a slight delay of the British Midland flight. Having learnt from my Tokyo experience, have packed comparatively less weight this time. Still, dragging 30 kg through the Tube to my hostel in Central London was not fun at all. Reached my hostel by noon, but was still groggy after my overnight flight. Decided to take a bus tour through the city. Unfortunately, was so tired that I slept through many parts of the tour, including the time we passed over Tower Bridge :( Will begin proper sightseeing from tomorrow. Will also begin photographing my trip from tomorrow - somehow was not in the mood to start today.

My first impressions of this city are obviously with reference to Tokyo. It is a slower place, and lacks the energy that Tokyo pulsates with (perhaps it also has to do with the fact that I was working in Tokyo whereas I am a complete tourist here). I love the stone buildings and the history associated with many of the places here though. Places like Delhi and London have this great advantage of being thousands of years old with multiple strands of history to draw upon. Bombay has not celebrated its 350th anniversary yet and has passed through only two distinct historical phases - the British phase and the post-independence phase. And precious little of grandeur has been constructed post-1947.

Travelling on the Tube and the bus has been fun. The Metro here has a very low carrying capacity as compared to the trains in Bombay, or even that of the Tokyo Underground. But the trains are clean and reasonably punctual (can't compare favourably with the Tokyo Metro though). There are plenty of restaurants and food joints. Tokyo had those too, but London does not have the drawback of everything being described in Japanese. Ate risotto and soup at an Italian fast food joint for lunch - very delicious. The food at the hostel in the evening was not that great though...

Hope to start early tomorrow - should be a more entertaining day!

Doubts before a long vacation

I just returned from an obligatory trip that I have to make before leaving Bombay for any significant length of time - the trip to Marine Drive. And as always, being on that stretch of road, that piece of real estate made me very happy and also a bit pensive. Today I was there with some friends and had a great time eating at Mafatlal's and catching Dor at a nearby multiplex. In between though I was at a place called Garedo Italiano (or something similar). And I had the equivalent of an icecream there - my first icecream in about six years. This was the first time that I was reinstating something onto the list of foods I permit myself to eat. This icecream, sorbetto to be exact, did not contravene my non-consumption of dairy rule, since it is made entirely of water and fruits. Yet, my dietary rules are part of a larger structure of abstemious behaviour which have helped me maintain a high degree of self-satisfaction through the past five-seven years. And that definitely faced its latest knock today.


I have constantly experimented with this abstemious behaviour, seeking to find the right balance between enjoying life and its myriad pleasures and not losing myself in the pursuit of all the wonderful things that life has to offer. This year in WIMWI has seen a complete collapse of this structure that I had buildup over the years. Financial discipline was the cornerstone of this edifice, with strict rules governing how much I would spend on various activities. Now, of course, I have been using the excuse of an impending job next year to spend money left and right without any regard to the propriety of my expenses. I used to buy books with a simple rule that I would never buy second-hand books and only buy a book once the previous one was finished. This helped me limit the number of books I read, increased the pleasure I derived out of reading each one and made me value each of my acquisitions. These past twelve months, I have been picking up one book after another, barely remembering even the names of those books :(

I have a very curious mindset and easily hanker after anything new, especially when that 'new' promises to increase my knowledge of the world. Yet, I have also this equally strong habit of not pursuing new activities and avenues. These contradictory tendencies have helped to limit my interests and allowed me to focus on the few things that I like. Every once in a while, I strike out and pick a new interest - Shakespeare, manga, the Beatles and economics are some topics that I have caught on to in the last 5 years - and settle down to learn more about that subject. In this form of punctauted equilibrium occur long periods of statis when I hardly concern myself with anything new and prefer to wallow in the comfort of the familiar.

In about 24 hours, I shall leave for a trip which promises to punctuate this equilibrium once more and leave my edifice of abstemious behaviour in further ruins. Have decided to splurge to the hilt during the next three months in Europe - spending freely on food, movies, plays, other arts, travelling, books and other goodies. And yet the trip would help me be alone and think about the many things I have not had a chance to, having being so close to my friends over the last year and a quarter. Yup, me and my diary (and its more public extension) will see each other often in the next few months.